AMB is the agency responsible
for supporting and promoting e-government across the
whole of Japan’s public sector. “One of
AMB’s most important projects
this year is the integration of information systems onto
a single platform,” said Tsuji. The consolidated
platform, targeted to launch in 2012, will start with
systems for common administrative matters, such as
personnel, backend control and procurement.

While standardisation should cut across the entire
government, systems which require high security measures
might not be included. Tsuji’s team is currently
investigating the suitability of different types
of systems.

The Japanese government spends an average of 450 billion
yen (US$5 billion) a year on
operating its information systems. The consolidation
project, targeted to be completed in 2022, is expected
to cut that by half.

AMB is also looking into
providing better government services over the internet.
“We received many complaints about the national portal.
Citizens said the design of the site makes it difficult
to find information quickly,” explained Tsuji. For the
past six months, his team has been reviewing how to
improve the portal’s navigation, search and quality
of information.

The current government site receives 100 million
visitors a year. “AMB,
however, has not tracked the profile of its visitors. We
therefore now need to survey the citizens to understand
how best we can improve,” Tsuji added. The new national
portal will be launched late this year or early
next year.

A consolidated document management strategy is the third
project on Tsuji’s list. There are many documents within
the government that are disorganised, according to him.
To address this issue, a new information system was
implemented early this year, replacing a four-year-old
legacy system.

“However, many government officers still do not use the
system, thinking that it is difficult to use,” Tsuji
said. The only solution – and a big priority for
AMB – is to change the
organisation’s culture. “The Japanese government is
required by law to make information open and available
to citizens. I believe that it will be easier for us to
achieve that if we use the information system,” he
elaborated. This information system will be integrated
into the main government IT
platform in 2012.

Reflecting on the key challenge facing Japan’s
e-government transformation, Tsuji said it is the lack
of attention paid to cost-effectiveness. “ICT
has some kind of magic in Japan. Many think that
technology is a silver bullet. While there are budgetary
limits, ICT projects are
easier to get approved than others,” he observed.

He added that it is important for the government to be
mindful of costs and manage expectations.